Song of the chapter - Spiderwebs by No Doubt

I was standing there, watching as Matt walked away, completely shocked. All day I had been preparing what I would say, how I would end it. And then he sauntered out there and did it himself.

Was it really that easy?

The worst part was how I reacted. I can't believe I asked him if he was sure. Why would I do that after all the planning Garrett went through with me? Wasn't I sure? The whole day had been so strange, maybe that's why I was such a mess. Maybe Matt had sensed it was coming.

That morning he had acted so sweet, grabbing my hand and walking me to class. He never did that anymore, and it caught me off guard. I figured he was just trying to get me to talk with him. I had avoided him all weekend, which was another reason it threw me off. Shouldn't he have been mad?

Then, at lunch, I could sense that he was frustrated and I half expected him to try dragging me to our usual spot behind the cafeteria so he could tell me what he really thought of me. But, again, he surprised me by putting his arm around my shoulders.

Where had that guy been for the past two months?

That was the guy I had started dating, the one who showed affection. The one who cared. The guy I'd been with for the past eight weeks had been anything but caring. It was throwing me off of my plan, the whole goal of breaking up.

But I went ahead and asked him to meet me in the quad, as planned, even though it was much harder than I thought it would be to get the words out. He looked at me with eyes that said "liar" and my heart rate sped up. I felt like he was a bomb that would blow at any second with the look that he gave me. However, just as quickly it was gone, replaced with a casual smile as he said "sure"

When I stood in the quad waiting, I thought I might pass out from the anxiety. How in the world was I going to do this? How would he respond? I glanced around the area, looking for April, Nico's girlfriend, who was supposed to be my back up in case Matt tried anything. Garrett told me he'd be watching too, from a distance, but didn't tell me where that would be.

April was seated on a bench a few feet away, listening to music and looking like someone who wanted the rest of the students to leave her alone. She was tough and had a reputation for not taking any crap from anyone. She was the perfect match for Nico.

Dear God, I was going to Nico's house! If I survived breaking up with Matt, I hoped I would also survive hanging out with Nico. I had never met him but his reputation was worse than April or Garrett's. I had heard things, the type of things I wanted nothing to do with.

When Matt finally showed up, he didn't look like a guy planning to dump his girlfriend. He seemed calm, happy even. So when the first thing out of his mouth was I can't help you with your shit, I thought I might faint. I braced myself for a huge confrontation, and then it was over practically as fast as it had begun.

We were done.

He had actually broken up with me. I still couldn't believe it as I stood there, looking towards the hallway doors Matt had just disappeared through. I sensed someone approaching me so I turned and saw April standing next to me.

"Well, that was unexpected." She said with a smirk. She was really pretty, if the scariest girl at Jefferson could be considered pretty. But honestly she was. She had the perfect wings on her eyelids and deep, dark pink lips that matched the shade of her boots. The hot pink tips at the end of her black hair popped right at you, almost the first thing you noticed about her.

"Yeah. I'm not sure what to think about all of this." I looked away from her and down at my hands, which I was wringing nervously.

"You should be celebrating, doll! This is your emancipation, doesn't matter who did the deed. The deed is done." Her voice was so loud that I cringed and looked around to see if anyone was watching us.

"I'm April, by the way. Nice to meet you. And I'm so glad I got to watch that pain in the ass squirm."

I snapped my head back up to look at her, shocked by her observation. "What do you mean? I was the one squirming!"

"Hardly! Didn't you notice how hard he was trying to look relaxed? That ass was a mess. Don't worry about it though, Amber, right?"

"Yes, sorry. Hi and I'm glad to meet you too. But really, you didn't have to do this for me." I was still not sure why she was or how Garrett managed to talk her into it. Who was I that this girl would spend her afternoon looking out for me? I felt really bad that everyone was getting involved because of my bad relationship.

"Hey, someone needed to do it. Nico explained the situation and I was all in. So stop apologizing and let's get going!" April hooked her arm with mine and grabbed my backpack from the bench.

She led me to the opposite hallway I usually went down, the one which led to the field and back lot. "You park back there?"

"That's right, hurry up doll, the boys will be waiting. And I can hardly wait to tell them all about it!" April continued to walk through the hallway and towards the field. I felt my stomach start to turn with nerves. That lot was avoided by people like me. People who didn't have the physical strength to survive a beating. The tough crowd hung out in that back lot. And everyone knew that on Friday nights when there wasn't a home game, that lot would be full of students doing God knows what in the dark.

"Are they here, at your car?" I wasn't ready to face Nico yet. Not there, in the scary back lot.

"No way. Nico will never set foot on this campus again. And as soon as I graduate, I'll be right there with him. I can't get away from this place fast enough."

"Oh" I sort of knew how she felt. Ever since things started going badly with Matt I had wanted to escape. But other than that, I liked school. Most of the last four years had been pretty good.

"So, Amber, tell me all about yourself." April insisted while still walking with our arms linked at the elbows. Matt's decision to break up with me may have been unexpected, but so was this tough girl and her kind words. I was thrown off for the fourth time today.

"What's there to tell? I'm an A student, trying to get scholarships to schools out of state, and plan on majoring in pre-law. My boyfriend just broke up with me and now I need a protection detail so that he doesn't keep harassing me."

April just shook her head and gave a little laugh. "Oh doll, there's more to you than that. We'll just have to dig a little and find out what it is."

I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

Before I could say anything in response, we reached April's car. She drove a restored '66 Mustang, painted glossy black. The interior was also black but I noticed hot pink piping along the leather seats.

"Wow! This car is amazing! Where did you get this?" I had to admit I was impressed by the car. It made a statement, for sure.

"Nico. He and Garrett buy old cars cheap and make them look like this." She had a look of pride on her face, from the car or the person responsible I wasn't sure.

"I had no idea that Garrett could do this type of thing. But I guess I really don't know him very well." I felt bad about that. Here he was working so hard to help me and I hardly knew a thing about him.

"Yeah, there's a lot going on behind that quiet exterior. I guess ever since Lisa he's been kind of withdrawn. So that's why Nico and I were so happy to help you out. We figured it was time Garrett got out of his loner shell."

"Who's Lisa?" I asked hesitantly.

By that time we were both in her car and she was just about to put the key in the ignition to start it up. Her hand stopped mid-air and she turned her face to me, mouth open.

"Shit, I thought you must have already known." April's other hand went to cover her mouth. "Shit."

It wasn't hard to get the hint that whatever had happened with Lisa had been a big deal. I have to be honest, that made me nervous.

"Listen" she started again, "it's not my story to tell. If and when he's ready, Garrett needs to tell you himself. But please don't bring it up, trust me that it won't go well. I mean I didn't even know anything until I had been seeing Nico for almost six months."

I swallowed the lump in my throat that had formed the second April cursed, then nodded my head. "Okay" Not asking him about whoever Lisa was wouldn't be hard for me at all. I still get nervous just thinking about talking to Garrett. But not thinking about this mysterious girl would be a whole other story.

My curiosity had been peaked.

"So, why are we going to Nico's house? Why not Garrett's or mine, even." Yeah mine would be safer. "You could just take me home."

"Didn't Garrett explain this?" April snapped, more at Garrett than at me I hoped. After I shook my head no, she continued.

"Matt could possibly show up at your house looking for you, trying to pull more of his crap. And we didn't want him to track you to Garrett's house either, for the same reason that he wasn't out in the quad when everything went down. But, now that Matt turned the tables on you, who knows what's going through his head."

"Yeah, I guess that's a pretty good plan. So, to Nico's it is" even though I felt a little sick to my stomach.

"Are you nervous?" April eyed me from the side as she drove.

Might as well be honest. "Yes. This is just so out of the norm for me. I feel like I'm working with a rogue FBI team." I laughed a little at my ridiculous statement. It was more like a rogue biker gang.

"Haha, those two like the stealth thing! It's like watching two kids playing cops and robbers. But really, you should relax. Both of them are great guys, so give them a chance. Trust me, I wouldn't be dating Nico if he wasn't."

Something in her tone, and the way she looked when she talked about both of them, made me trust her words and start to feel a little better. At that point I realized I was a horrible judge of character. I thought Matt was great and Garrett a threat. Both of those judgements were one hundred percent wrong. I guess it's pretty clear that April wasn't as tough as she seemed, so I was sure Nico was...well, I'd just have to wait to find out.

April continued to drive to Nico's house. I continued to slightly freak out about meeting Nico. I'd known about him ever since I was in eighth grade and he was a freshman. Yeah, I had heard things, scary things, about what he did to seniors who looked at him too long or too hard. I suddenly had the urge to start biting my nails again. I hadn't done that for years.

"What's gotten into you now?" April asked, breaking into my frightening thoughts, "you look like you're about to jump out of the car."

"Just nervous still, I guess." I didn't know what to say. How could I admit my terror of her boyfriend?

"Well, better relax, we're here." April said as she pulled into the driveway of an old clapboard house, probably built in the 1940's. The white paint was chipping off all along the trim, and the concrete walkway was cracked and broken by tree roots. I had never been in that part of town before.

April got out and grabbed her stuff, motioning for me to do the same. "Come on, he'll be out back in the garage. Garrett should be here soon."

"He's not here?" I almost shrieked. Who would protect me? I got the feeling April thought Nico could do no wrong.

"No, he's making sure Matt doesn't follow you, or me. Keeping tabs on the little shit"

With that revelation, my stomach took a little spin. Or maybe it was my heart. I couldn't believe he was looking out for me like that. But maybe he's just looking for an opportunity to beat the crap out of Matt, again.

We walked up the driveway and I saw that the garage was open and someone's legs were sticking out from under an old beat up car that I couldn't identify.

"Hey bitch, we made it!" April yelled. She called her boyfriend bitch?

The legs slid out, along with a grease covered body, and then I saw him. He's just as tough looking as I remembered, but the look he gave April as he took her in was enough to make a girl get weak in the knees. His attraction to her was written all over his face.

"Hey queen bee! How'd it go?" Nico got up from his palate and walked over to April, throwing an arm around her neck and kissing her. I had a feeling those two packed on the PDA. Ugh.

"Nico! I have told you repeatedly not to put your greasy arms on me! Shower first, then nukie" Nico laughed at her reprimand.

He certainly wasn't as tough as I imagined he would be.

Just as I was having that revelation, I heard a voice from behind, "Get a room! Your going to make Amber sick with that shit like you do to me every afternoon." Garrett made a disgusted face. He looked over at me then, "sorry about them. They can't keep their hands to themselves."

It's the first time I'd been close enough to Garrett to really look at him since the whole argument with Matt. Right away I noticed the color of his eyes, like a deep ocean blue. He looked at me straight on for a few seconds then glanced away and swallowed. I was so taken in by his eyes, I almost overlooked the fact that his hood was down. It made him seem much more handsome than I had noticed before.

His hair was dark, practically black, and very short. It's long enough to be blown every which way in the fall breeze. His scar actually seemed less noticeable without the hood, I decided. The muscles in his jaw tensed and relaxed, shifting slightly as he stood with his hands in his pockets. I realized I'd been staring so I finally looked away.

I could feel the embarrassment all over my face from ogling him, along with the kissing fest from a few minutes ago, even as I said, "it's no big deal."

"Right" he replied, shaking his head. "So, Matt went straight home. Is that normal behavior for him?"

"I guess, I mean he would usually come to my house until my parents get home, unless he had practice or a game." I know it's unthinkable, but remembering the good moments we did have actually made me a little sad. He wasn't always an asshole.

"Are his parents home in the afternoon?" Nico interjected, seeming to be working out Matt's habits along with Garrett.

"I don't know. I've never been to his house. I've never even met his parents." I shrugged my shoulders.

Garrett and Nico looked at each other and then back at me. It's Nico who spoke next, "are you kidding? You never met his parents in three months of dating?"

"I guess there was never the opportunity. I'm not really sure why." I had never questioned it before now.

"Well, he didn't treat you right in any area, did he. Hey Nico, too bad you're older than him! If your ages had been reversed you could have taken him out!" April laughed. Yeah, that's the rumors I had heard. Looked like they were true.

"Not necessary now that Amber dumped him." Nico smirked over at me.

Before I could respond, April cut me off. "Nope, the asswipe actually dumped her, didn't even let her try to do it before he blurted it out. And that line about finding a new place to sit at lunch, what a douche!"

Both of the guys shot me a look. Garrett was the first to speak. "He did?" I nodded "Are you okay?" He asked quietly. I looked at him and nodded again.

"Of course she's okay! This doll is divine!" April came over to me and once again linked our arms at the elbows. "And now that she has her freedom, we are gonna have some fun with it!"

What had I gotten myself into?
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A/N Hey!! What did you think?

If you liked it please tap the star to vote! It takes less than a second and it really helps. Thanks so much!

So, I have a question for you: what do you think of April? She kind of hijacked the chapter! I wasn't planning on writing almost 3,000 words but, when April talks I just go with it!

How do you think the next part will play out? Is Matt going to harass Amber? Will he and Garrett get into it?

The next part happens over the month of December leading up to winter break. (School started in August for them). It will be told in Amber-Garrett-Matt order.

Spiderwebs just says how Amber is feeling about everything- the breakup, getting to know Garrett and hanging out with Nico. By the way, I love Nico and April so we will see them a lot!!

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